PSM review
L1 Important concepts
Scientism: Science is the only method to obtain certain knowledge, science is about everything
and has no limits.
science is vastly superior to all other attempts at securing knowledge: its laws
provide certainty.
Skepticism: Science does not give certainty, it is equal to other forms of knowledge, science is
a faith.
Modernism= modern thinking: rational reasoning, think for yourself
Post modernism: post (after) modernism, pluralistic thinking, more than one truth and one
method
Anything goes: Paul Feyerabend icon (= symbol or representative) of Scepticism
No methodological view can be held as fixed and universal and thus the only fixed and
universal rule would be anythings goes which would be useless
Two basic ways of inquiry:
Naïve inquiry: Non formalized, non systematic and non controlled form of collecting and
summarizing information into naive theories
Scientific inquiry: highly formalized, systematic and controlled inquiry’ ‘observations and
reasoning are error prone
Science shifts the locus of truth from single individuals to groups, by establishing a set of
mutually agreed upon rules for establishing truth.
AKA:-The scientific method
-Modern thinking
1
,-Analytical-empirical approach; experimental research
The scientific method:testing theories, control of alternative explanations, attention for the
nature of relationships, use observable evidence
Method of tenacity: what is commonly known is true
Method of authority: high regarded person speaks the truth
Method of the reasonable man (a priori method): reason and logical consistency is key
Important individuals
Dolly and Snuppy:Advances in biotechnology make it possible to map genetic codes of
animals and humans ,animals can be cloned.
Paul Feyerabend: Anything goes is icon (= symbol or representative) of Scepticism
Charles Peirce (L8) : Reaction to the philosophy of Descartes
- Descartes: if ideas are clear and distinct – they are indubitably true
- Peirce: Descartes is too intuitive – clear and distinct ideas only possible through
science
- Reversed Cartesian thought: knowledge comes from ‘outside’ (through interactions with
the world)
- Focus on fallibility of beliefs
L2 Important concepts
Justified true belief: ‘true judgement with an account’
- True = corresponds to the facts (= correspondence theory of truth)
- Justified = with a good reason
- “ However, its truth is not sufficient for that belief to qualify as knowledge if it lacks a
justification”(p24)
2
, → For your belief to constitute knowledge, the belief must be true and you must be
able to provide a good or satisfactory reason for believing it
Empiricism: Observation and hands-on experience is the starting point. We live in the real
world, not in a cave. Our path to knowledge comes through logical, methodological discovery.
Rationalism: Crawl out of the cave to the light of truth and understand the harmonious Ideal
World through rational contemplation.
Epistemology: the study of knowledge (epistèmè = knowledge) what we know of the world
Ontology: the study of existence (to on = to be) how the world is
Metaphysics: the study of the fundamental nature of reality (meta = beyond, physics = nature)
Nativism: the mind has certain innate structures and that experience plays a limited role in the
creation of knowledge
Allegory of the Cave: Plato explained this in his allegory of the cave in Republic. (Allegory = a
way of expressing a thought through an image)
- One of the most notable thought experiments of all time
- It is a story about the difference between appearances and reality
- In this allegory, prisoners are chained up in a cave and only see shadows on the wall from
people holding up statues and figures of animals. The prisoners believe these shadows to
be real objects. When a prisoner is released, he is initially blinded by the light and takes
time to adjust to the real objects. The sun is the ultimate reality that reveals all objects.
Peripatetic Axiom: Nothing is in the intellect which was not first found in the senses
(Aristotle’s) Syllogism: If the premises are true (a & b), the conclusion must be true too (c). The
premises entail the conclusion.
(a) Statement 1 (Major premise)
(b)Statement 2 (Minor premise)
(c) Statement 3 (Conclusion)
Induction: From a particular case (a) to a general law (b)
(a) The first five eggs in the box were good
3
, (b)Therefore, the sixth egg will be good too
Deduction: From a general law (a) to a particular case (c)
(a) All human beings are mortal
(b) Socrates is a human being
(c) Hence Socrates is mortal
Nous: intuitive induction (insight) by the mind (nous) guarantees the truth of the empirically
acquired correlations.
= solution to Induction problem
Four causes doctrine:
- The Formal cause: shape
- The Material cause
- The Efficient cause: the primary source of change or its absence
- The Final cause: the goal for the sake of which something is done
Induction problem: The premise does not entail the conclusion: it is logically possible that
the premise is true and the conclusion false
Important individuals
Heraclites (600 – 540 BC):
- The philosopher of flux
- panta rei – everything flows
- Cannot step in the same river twice
- Nothing is, everything changes
Parmenides (510 – 440 BC):
- The philosopher of stasis
- The senses deceive us
- Universe is permanent and immutable
- Everything is, nothing becomes
4
L1 Important concepts
Scientism: Science is the only method to obtain certain knowledge, science is about everything
and has no limits.
science is vastly superior to all other attempts at securing knowledge: its laws
provide certainty.
Skepticism: Science does not give certainty, it is equal to other forms of knowledge, science is
a faith.
Modernism= modern thinking: rational reasoning, think for yourself
Post modernism: post (after) modernism, pluralistic thinking, more than one truth and one
method
Anything goes: Paul Feyerabend icon (= symbol or representative) of Scepticism
No methodological view can be held as fixed and universal and thus the only fixed and
universal rule would be anythings goes which would be useless
Two basic ways of inquiry:
Naïve inquiry: Non formalized, non systematic and non controlled form of collecting and
summarizing information into naive theories
Scientific inquiry: highly formalized, systematic and controlled inquiry’ ‘observations and
reasoning are error prone
Science shifts the locus of truth from single individuals to groups, by establishing a set of
mutually agreed upon rules for establishing truth.
AKA:-The scientific method
-Modern thinking
1
,-Analytical-empirical approach; experimental research
The scientific method:testing theories, control of alternative explanations, attention for the
nature of relationships, use observable evidence
Method of tenacity: what is commonly known is true
Method of authority: high regarded person speaks the truth
Method of the reasonable man (a priori method): reason and logical consistency is key
Important individuals
Dolly and Snuppy:Advances in biotechnology make it possible to map genetic codes of
animals and humans ,animals can be cloned.
Paul Feyerabend: Anything goes is icon (= symbol or representative) of Scepticism
Charles Peirce (L8) : Reaction to the philosophy of Descartes
- Descartes: if ideas are clear and distinct – they are indubitably true
- Peirce: Descartes is too intuitive – clear and distinct ideas only possible through
science
- Reversed Cartesian thought: knowledge comes from ‘outside’ (through interactions with
the world)
- Focus on fallibility of beliefs
L2 Important concepts
Justified true belief: ‘true judgement with an account’
- True = corresponds to the facts (= correspondence theory of truth)
- Justified = with a good reason
- “ However, its truth is not sufficient for that belief to qualify as knowledge if it lacks a
justification”(p24)
2
, → For your belief to constitute knowledge, the belief must be true and you must be
able to provide a good or satisfactory reason for believing it
Empiricism: Observation and hands-on experience is the starting point. We live in the real
world, not in a cave. Our path to knowledge comes through logical, methodological discovery.
Rationalism: Crawl out of the cave to the light of truth and understand the harmonious Ideal
World through rational contemplation.
Epistemology: the study of knowledge (epistèmè = knowledge) what we know of the world
Ontology: the study of existence (to on = to be) how the world is
Metaphysics: the study of the fundamental nature of reality (meta = beyond, physics = nature)
Nativism: the mind has certain innate structures and that experience plays a limited role in the
creation of knowledge
Allegory of the Cave: Plato explained this in his allegory of the cave in Republic. (Allegory = a
way of expressing a thought through an image)
- One of the most notable thought experiments of all time
- It is a story about the difference between appearances and reality
- In this allegory, prisoners are chained up in a cave and only see shadows on the wall from
people holding up statues and figures of animals. The prisoners believe these shadows to
be real objects. When a prisoner is released, he is initially blinded by the light and takes
time to adjust to the real objects. The sun is the ultimate reality that reveals all objects.
Peripatetic Axiom: Nothing is in the intellect which was not first found in the senses
(Aristotle’s) Syllogism: If the premises are true (a & b), the conclusion must be true too (c). The
premises entail the conclusion.
(a) Statement 1 (Major premise)
(b)Statement 2 (Minor premise)
(c) Statement 3 (Conclusion)
Induction: From a particular case (a) to a general law (b)
(a) The first five eggs in the box were good
3
, (b)Therefore, the sixth egg will be good too
Deduction: From a general law (a) to a particular case (c)
(a) All human beings are mortal
(b) Socrates is a human being
(c) Hence Socrates is mortal
Nous: intuitive induction (insight) by the mind (nous) guarantees the truth of the empirically
acquired correlations.
= solution to Induction problem
Four causes doctrine:
- The Formal cause: shape
- The Material cause
- The Efficient cause: the primary source of change or its absence
- The Final cause: the goal for the sake of which something is done
Induction problem: The premise does not entail the conclusion: it is logically possible that
the premise is true and the conclusion false
Important individuals
Heraclites (600 – 540 BC):
- The philosopher of flux
- panta rei – everything flows
- Cannot step in the same river twice
- Nothing is, everything changes
Parmenides (510 – 440 BC):
- The philosopher of stasis
- The senses deceive us
- Universe is permanent and immutable
- Everything is, nothing becomes
4
